Hear Sidd Coutto’s Greatest Hits At the Launch of His Debut Solo Album

There is perhaps no one in the Indian indie rock scene who knows a hook better than Sidd Coutto. As one-fourth of Zero and as the frontman of such bands as Helga’s Fun Castle and Tough On Tobacco, Coutto has been responsible for some of the most earwormy tunes to have emerged out of Indi-rock over the last decade and a half. (We challenge anyone to listen to “Smoke Some Ganja” and then truthfully say that the tune hasn’t got stuck in their head.) This Wednesday, October 5, the singer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist will release his long-awaited debut solo album Sunny Side Up. (You can download the first single, “Free” for free here.)

Coutto played guitar, drums, bass, keyboards, and trumpet on the album, and at the launch gig—which by the way is also free—he will pretty much be a one-man band, thanks to use of a looper (a device used to repeatedly play short sections of music in a loop), and the help of sound engineer Hans Dalal. But in addition to premiering five of the eight songs that comprise Sunny Side Up, Coutto will also perform some of the tunes that he’s written with his other bands. In the tradition started by one of those groups, the now-disbanded Helga’s Fun Castle, Coutto will also reserve some time for “improv comedy rock”, where he will make up songs using words and topics suggested by the audience. A number of guest musicians will join Coutto on stage during the course of the gig, including Zero’s Girish “Bobby” Talwar, Tough on Tobacco’s Johan Pais, 3 Guys And A Girl’s Shazneen Arethna and a couple of the musicians who contributed to Sunny Side Up, harp player Anuksha Lewis and cello player Rozelle Alphonso.